The Message on The Bottle
by DoooWeeeOooo
Summary: After weeks of seeing the same blond enter the corner store where he worked daily, Harry Potter finally decided to talk to him. Unfortunately, it may not turn out as well as planned. ONE SHOT AU


Every day, Harry Potter saw the blond enter the corner store. Every day, he would be surprised by the man's striking grey eyes as he rung up his drink. Every day, he bought the same drink: a pre-made green apple smoothie in a plastic bottle.

"Does this even taste good?" The jet-haired boy blurted one day. His face turned crimson as he realized how rude he sounded. "Sorry, I didn't- I mean, I just- I can't imagine a smoothie that's bottled would taste anywhere near good."

"Well," the blond's eyes averted to Harry's name tag, " _Harry,_ it happens to taste wonderful. Now, could you please just ring me up instead of questioning my beverage choices?"

Harry's blush darkened, if possible, and he quickly rung him up, mumbling an apology.

It was the first conversation he had with the pale stranger, and he blew it.

The next day, Harry was flustered fifteen minutes before the customer came in at his regular time, half-past noon. He felt the need to make it up to the stranger, he hated that he offended him.

So, naturally, he bought him a drink.

Or, rather, a bottled green apple smoothie.

So, when the light-eyed man walked up to the counter with his daily purchase, Harry rang him up and then handed him the extra bottle. He looked up, his grey eyes questioning.

"To um-" Harry cleared his throat, "to apologize for angering you yesterday." He pushed his round glasses up the bridge of his nose, a nervous habit of his.

The blond gave him a slight smile, followed by a nod, and left the store.

* * *

When Draco Malfoy left the store on the day of that first conversation, he cursed himself for getting so irritated with the cashier. He was never any good at talking to people he found cute, but this took the cake. He had to refrain from walking back in there and apologizing to this "Harry," following it up with an offer to get coffee on his break. However, when the raven-haired cashier gave him that second smoothie bottle- already paid for - he couldn't help but smile. What made his smile grow was when he looked at the bottle and saw a message written on it in near chicken-scratch writing.

" _Hope this makes up for being so rude yesterday. If not, maybe I could take you out for coffee? -Harry Potter, the jerk cashier._ " Underneath it, a ten-digit phone number was scrawled.

Draco waited until the hour the store closed, eight p.m., to be sure he didn't catch Harry while on his shift. And then he waited more, having dialed the number several times, but not having the courage to hit the call button. Finally, around eight forty-five, he called.

The phone rang twice, before the tell-all _click_ sounded.

" _Hello?_ " A slightly gruff voice answered on the other end of the line.

"Hello- I'm sorry, I may have the wrong number. Is this Harry Potter?" The fair-haired man chewed on his bottom lip.

" _Yes, may I ask who's calling?_ " The tone of his voice, however, hinted he may know who his mystery caller was.

"I'm Draco Malfoy, the one whose beverage you insulted - _quite rudely,_ I might add." Draco made sure to keep his tone light so Harry wouldn't think he was offended in any way.

" _Oh, er-_ " Harry coughed nervously. " _Yeah, sorry about that._ "

"As you should be! I'm not sure if I'm quite ready to forgive you yet, Mr. Potter." Harry finally caught onto Draco's light flirting and responded.

" _Oh, you're not? Well, that just won't do._ "

"I believe you offered to buy me coffee in your little note on my bottle. Although, I may have read it wrong. Your handwriting really is quite atrocious." Draco was absolutely _delighted_ when the green-eyed male on the other end let out a delectable laugh.

" _Clearly it wasn't too bad if you could read my number on it. As for the coffee, you read correctly. In exchange for your forgiveness, I will take you to any coffee shop you'd like,_ and _treat you._ " Draco could almost _hear_ Harry's smile as he talked.

"Yes, well, that sounds like a beneficial arrangement. What do you say about going tomorrow?"

" _Well, my lunch break is from one to two. If we can't go in that timeframe, I get off of work at eight._ "

"One to two sounds perfectly doable." Draco resisted the urge to add ' _like you, Mr. Potter_ ' do the end of his sentence.

" _One to two it is. If you stop by the store at one, we can take my car to the coffee shop of your choice._ "

Draco nodded, before he realized Harry couldn't hear him on the other end. "I will be there at one p.m. sharp, Mr. Potter. Don't make me wait." With that, he hung up the phone.

* * *

At exactly one p.m. the next day, the bell above the door to the shop rang to announce the entrance of a customer. Harry knew who it was, of course. The blond, who he learned was named Draco, had decided to forego coming at twelve-thirty for his usual smoothie.

Harry lifted his head and smiled as the fair-skinned man walked in confidently, sporting a pair of jeans and a green and silver sweater that fit him quite well.

"Martha, it's my break. I'll be back at two." Harry called to his coworker as he unpinned his name tag and tossed it onto a shelf under the counter. He heard her sound of approval from the other side of the store and grabbed his jumper, slipping it on and smiling at Draco.

"Hello, Mr. Malfoy. I really do hope our date today can urge you to forgive me." He said properly. It was only after the sentence passed his mouth that he realized he had referred to their outing as a date. A light pink blush dusted over his face, but thankfully, Draco didn't seem to notice.

"I should hope so. It's such a _bother_ to remain angry at someone I don't know even know." Draco sighed dramatically as they approached Harry's car.

Harry smiled and opened the passenger's side door for Draco, gesturing for him to get in. The blond blushed as he sat down- it wasn't very often that an attractive male opened the door for him, let alone flashing him such a breath-taking grin. Harry slid into the driver's seat and latched his seatbelt before turning to Draco.

"So, where to?"

* * *

Draco knew just the place: a quaint little Shoppe right outside of town. For a business that doesn't seem to have many costumers, they had been around for as long as the twenty-three year old man could remember. It was homey, old-fashioned, and always smelled of coffee beans and cinnamon, making it the perfect coffee shop to bring a date to.

They walked in and both immediately inhaled deeply.

"What would you like?" Harry asked, turning to his date. Draco listed off his usual order- a simple black coffee with just a hint of cinnamon. Harry nodded and told him to find them a table as he ordered their drinks, walking up to the counter.

Draco walked to the table he always sat at, a booth in the back corner with worn but comfortable seats and a tiled tabletop. He was sitting there, tracing the shape of the tiles with his finger, when a warm mug was set in front of him. He looked up and connected with a pair of soft jade eyes.

"Black coffee with a hint of cinnamon?" Harry asked, as though he wasn't sure if that was Draco's order. He smirked up at the man and sipped his coffee carefully. The hot liquid ran over his tongue, scalding his taste buds and making him wince. Harry's eyes widened with worry.

"No worries, just too hot. I'm alright." Draco quickly reassured him.

"I'm sorry, I should have warned you."

"It's coffee, it's usually hot. You don't need to warn me." He let out a quiet chuckle.

"Alright. Still, I'm sorry. Be careful with your drink. I don't need you mad at me for the smoothie _and_ the hot coffee." This made Draco laugh slightly louder.

"Okay, if you say so. While I wait for my coffee to cool, why don't you tell me about yourself?"

The next forty-five minutes were spent with the males asking each other questions. By the time they needed to leave, they knew everything from their favourite colours- silver for Harry, green for Draco- to their most embarrassing moments. Their coffees were all but untouched, Draco having not taken another sip and Harry having only taken two before setting it aside while they talked.

As they stood to leave the shop, Harry laid down two five pound notes and reached a hand out as a gesture to help Draco out of his seat. He was surprised when the blond didn't release his hand when he stood up, choosing instead to lace their fingers together. They walked back to Harry's car like that; hand-in-hand, both grinning ear-to-ear and blushing, but neither one realizing it. They drove back to the shop where Harry worked and walked into the otherwise barren store together.

While Harry went back behind the counter to retrieve his name tag, Draco walked to the cooler with his smoothie of choice. He brought it to the counter, letting Harry ring it up with a teasing smile. As he was getting out his wallet, Harry scrawled something across the label on the bottle.

* * *

Draco was only a few steps away from the door when he read the message on the bottle. " _I thought good dates were supposed to end with a kiss?_ "

He spun on his heel and strode back into the store, straight up to the counter. The store was still empty, and Harry's coworker had returned to the storage room upon his arrival.

Draco reached across the counter, gathered his collar in his hands, and pulled Harry towards him, connecting their lips. The kiss was, in reality, only a few seconds long. It was sweet but passionate at the same time, and Harry loved Draco's confidence in it. When they broke apart, they smiled at each other. Their stare was only broken by Draco looking at his feet and opening his mouth to ask a question.

"So, where are we going for our second date?"


End file.
